Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Lyra laid it out. “Not many runners left above ground. The ice trees can’t find prey, so the game drops bait to flush the hiders out. Anyone who comes for the boxes turns into a fresh target.”

Lydia listened to Lina’s translation. She didn’t flinch-she just rubbed her wrist. She opened her mouth, snapped out two lines in Ursarian, then switched back to broken Draconian. “Me, want grab.”

Lina shot her a look. “Are you insane? It’s all Wraith trees out there!”

Lydia slapped her own thigh. “Speed-me-fast!” She added, “Don’t know-where boxes.”

Lyra nodded. “Don’t worry about that. If the game wants to fish, it has to tell you where the bait is.” She looked at Lydia “Otherwise, how do you fish?”

Lydia grinned and pounded her chest twice.

Lina crouched beside them, twisting the hem of her shirt. “I’m staying. I can’t run fast. Going out’s suicide.” She looked up at Lyra. “If a box spawns close, I’ll grab it. Far? Forget it.”

Sergei spoke up too. “This round… stay alive. Me not go.”

Lyra swept a glance over the three of them and nodded. “I’ll go.”

Lina nodded, no surprise on her face. Two rounds in, Lyra already sat at the very top in her head. She didn’t doubt for a second that Lyra would come back with a box.

Lyra reached into her hidden side pocket, pulled out a fire starter, and handed it to Lina.

“If a box spawns close and an ice tree comes for you and you can’t outrun it, grab a handful of dry leaves, light them with this, and toss them aside. It’ll stop to handle the fire. That buys you distance.”

Lina took it. “Got it. I’ll stuff some leaves into my shirt now. Faster to light.”

Lyra nodded, then turned to Lydia. “Head toward the pond. Lana said there’s water that way. Even if you don’t get a box, jump in. The ice trees can’t touch you in there.”

Lina translated quickly.

Lydia nodded. “Me country tell me already.”

“Good.”

“Let’s move.” Lyra spun and ran toward the starting point.

Lydia copied her, smearing mud over every patch of bare skin first, then took off in the opposite direction, sprinting for the pond zone in the southeast.

Lina and Sergei exchanged a glance and started gathering dry leaves, stuffing them all into Lina’s shirt. Once she was packed. they dropped back into the pit and pulled the cover into place.

Dirt sifted down. The light went dim.

Lina clamped the reed between her teeth, pressed her palms together, and started praying under her breath.

Lyra wove through the brush, body low, ducking left and right, threading around the positions of the ice trees.

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Chapter 42

The countdown for the box drop kept rolling through the announcements.

One minute left.

Fifty seconds.

Forty seconds.

A rustle. Straight ahead. Lyra froze mid-step and slipped sideways, ducking behind the trunk of a thick tree.

An ice tree crawled out of the brush to her front right, gray bark shifting in the dappled light, roots writhing as it moved

west.

Lyra held her breath. Once it was far enough off, she slipped back out and kept running.

[Countdown complete.]

[Boxes have been deployed.]

[Pickup window: three minutes.]

Three pillars of light dropped from the sky, blazing bright, as if terrified the players might miss them.

First, due north-the starting point.

Second, southeast, not far from the pond.

Third, due west, right where the ice trees were thickest.

The corner of Lyra’s mouth lifted. One really did spawn right here.

She broke into a sprint, skirted two brown trees pressed together, pushed through a patch of low brush, and the clearing opened up ahead.

The open ground at the starting point. The pillar of light hammered down from above. A box was wedged into the dirt

No one else. She was first.

Lyra rushed up and pressed her hand to the lid.

Hot.

The box was radiating heat. The moment her palm touched the wood, warmth poured out. The whole thing ran hotter than a human body.

She blinked for half a second. Then it clicked-this thing was a heat source. Hotter than a person. Ice trees hunted by heat The box ran hotter than any player. So which one would they lock onto first?

Lyra muttered, “Holy shit.”

Fishing, plain as day. She swore, hooked her fingers under the lid, and ripped it up.

The lid sprang open. Inside lay a token, dark gold rim, words etched across the face. No time to read. She scooped it up and shoved it into her hidden pocket.

Skip reading. Run.

Off in the distance, rustling sprang up from three directions at once. Three ice trees, all converging on the pillar of light.

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Chapter 12

Lyra spun and bolted, toes digging in as she dove into the brush on her left Behind her, the pillar still turned. The healt bled heat. The ice trees were charging the box, not her

Lyra burst out laughing. practically whooping with delight.

Pushing through the brush, she glanced toward another pillar. Due west. Not Lydia’s direction Not close to Linas hiding spot. Worth a look!

Lyra didn’t hesitate. She pivoted and tore toward the pillar. A few hundred yards in, the sound of a scuffle drifted from up ahead.

Lyra rounded a patch of fallen deadwood. The view opened up-

Under the pillar, the box was already pried open. A body lay sprawled beside it, blood still oozing from a gash on the head. eyes wide open, refusing to close in death.

A man knelt half-down beside the box, both arms locked around something he’d pulled from inside, body curled over his chest like a beast guarding its young.

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